Raising Awareness
about Gay-Teen Suicide
And remembering those who we've lost

Welcome to the
support site for the White Ribbon Gay-Teen Suicide
Awareness Campaign. This campaign was started to raise
awareness about the epidemic of GLBT teen suicide. It is
estimated that a teen in the United States takes his or
her own life every 5 hours because he or she is gay,
lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, and can not deal with
the added stresses that society puts upon them. We as a
society MUST figure out what it is we are doing to drive
these poor teens to such drastic measures, so we can take
steps to stop this tragedy from happening again. Anything
we can do to help end this deadly crisis among our youth
is a step in the right direction. We may only have less
than 5 hours to save a life.

I
created this site because of the deafening roar of
silence about gay teens and suicide According to a 1989
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services study, up to
30 percent of teen suicides are by GLBT youths, and GLBT
teens are two to three times more likely to attempt
suicide than are other youth. GLBT teens who are trying
to come to terms with their own sexuality deal each day
with negative messages from family, friends and society,
social isolation and lack of a support system during a
very difficult time in their life.

As a personal survivor of
attempted suicide I know all to well that there is a
serious vacuum of information out there, and far too many
mental health professionals ignore or do not realize that
having problems dealing with one's sexuality can be a
cause for mental illness and suicide in teenagers.

The quest of this ribbon
campaign is to raise awareness and make information and
support easier to obtain for those who need it. We're not
here to provide information directly. Our goal is to make
the information that IS available easier to find for
those who need it by getting our linked banner and
graphic on as many homepages as possible, and then
providing links from this site to the information. If
only 1 teenager stumbles across the banner, and finds a
link from here to a sight that helps him/her and makes
him/her realize that they are not alone, and they are not
abnormal, and that they don't have to choose suicide,
then we have succeeded in our goal

My own personal message to
those GLBT teens who are reading this is something I was
told while I was hospitalized after my own suicide
attempt: In the long run all problems will eventually be
resolved. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary
problem. If you're dead you won't be here to enjoy life
when it becomes enjoyable. You are NOT alone in this
world. There are hundreds of thousands of other GLBT
teens out there.

"This site
is dedicated to the memory of the many who died too
young, and to their loved ones."

The graphic and code for the
banners have been updated. If you are already a supporter you
should replace the banner on your site with one of the new
banners here. Please note the new banners now use a JPEG graphic
instead of a GIF for better color resolution, much faster
download time, and a smaller graphic file.

I lost my mailing list of WRC
members in a harddrive crash. I have switched over to using
listbot for my mailing list. Please go here and join the new list.

Joining is a simple 3 step
process:

Step 1: Save this
white ribbon graphic to your directory on your web server. This
is usually accomplished by right clicking on the graphic in
Navigator or Internet Explorer and choosing "save picture
as" or equivalent, then uploading it to your site. Do
not access the graphic directly from this server.

Step 2: Add the following code snippet to a visible place on
your web page:

I was asked recently
if I can provide people with real white ribbons to wear on the
lapel. The answer is no, but I do encourage you, if you so
desire, to go to your local arts & crafts or variety store
and get a roll of 1/4 inch (0.5 - 0.75 cm) wide white satin
ribbon, a hot glue gun, some hot glue sticks, and some small
safety pins and make your own white ribbon like the one in our
graphic. Wear it on your lapel or somewhere on your shirt or coat
and dont be afraid to tell people what it means if they
ask! While you're at it, make some for your friends, your family,
or your support group. Help spread the word. It could help save
lives. I will add more detailed instructions after I've had a
chance to experiment.